Through Death I Will Protect
by Kristal
Summary: TorchwoodXOver. "The Key needs to be protected. She needs to be safe."
1. Prologue

**Through Death Will I Protect**

**Rating:** PG 13 - T

**Pairings:** Jack/Dawn

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood or Buffy characters, canon story lines, etc; they belong to their respectable creators.

**Summary:** "The Key needs to be protected. She needs to be safe."

**Notes:** So started writing one with Dawn as the daughter of Jack with the same idea that Dawn needs to be protected even after Buffy is dead. I got about three chapters into and realized I have not written chapter story that doesn't include someone being related to someone or someone having a kid. So here it is. Lets see if I can do it! Tell me what you think. Also: this is prologue so its short... better than me just posting the very first part alone like I was first going to though!

**PROLOGUE**

_"It needs to be protected. She needs to be protected."_

"But Glorificus is dead. It is safe."

"It needs protected. It mustn't be opened."

The hollow voices echoed through the night. They danced into the bedroom of a young teenage girl and entered into her unconscious mind.

_"She'll be protected."_

--

Half-way around the world and three hours later, an alarm clock rang through the very different bedroom of a very similar looking young woman. The young woman twisted in her blanket, her deep sleep being interrupted from the sound. A groan escaped from under the sea of maroon sheets; although it was barely audible, being masked by the increasing volume of the clock.

Another groan followed hers- a much deeper groan coming from the side of her. With the twist of the sheets that the woman knew hadn't come from her, the moan turned into a word. "Dawn…"

The comforter flew off the woman as her body sat immediately up right as soon as the voice registered to her. Her large blue eyes darted to the source of the voice. A man. A naked man. A naked man looking at her with a cocky smile and laughing blue eyes.

The seemingly naked man's cocky smile faded as he instantly noted her distress. He sat up slowly, his blue eyes not moving from hers. Carefully, he spoke again, "Dawn, are…"

He was interrupted by a scream.

**--**

**Review and make me happy!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Through Death Will I Protect**

**Rating:** PG 13 - T

**Pairings:** Jack/Dawn

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood or Buffy characters, canon story lines, etc; they belong to their respectable creators.

**Summary:** "The Key needs to be protected. She needs to be safe."

--

In a heartbeat, Jack Harkness reached for Dawn. Skin touched skin and Dawn realized now that he wasn't the only one naked. She clenched the sheets into her fists and began scooting quickly away from him.

"Dawn!" Worry filled in his voice, Jack pleaded with her. He needed to hold her to make her unafraid, to fix whatever she was so terrified of. It never occurred to him that it was he she was afraid of.

The two continued, scooting toward and scooting away. But on only a bed, even the king sized bed the two shared, there was only so much space.

"Oomph!" Dawn fell. A mess of sheets and blankets followed her.

It was now that Dawn called out in desperation, "Buffy! Help me, Buff…y." Dawn's final syllable came out in a whisper. Jack could hardly hear it. Dawn's eyes misted over as the previous day's events washed over her. Buffy was dead. There was no one to help her.

Dawn went limp. She was still, frozen, knees pressed against her chest, forehead pressed to her knees, her mind too weak, too tired, too hopeless to defend against this stranger that continued to advance on her.

Jack slid off the bed and positioned himself in front of Dawn. Jack places his hands on the sides of her legs, needing to touch her, to comfort her. Feeling her body tense upon contact, Jack willed himself to pull away from her. So softly, Jack spoke trying in anyway to make her- her, "Dawn, come on baby. Look at me, baby." Dawn's head rose slightly, water-filled eyes looked at him in no recognition. "Dawnie, what's wrong? What happened? What…?"

Jack finally took note of her eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes. Filled with tears. With no recognition of him. None. She looked at him like she was a scared child and he a stranger. His eyes pulsed in fear and he could only breathe out the question, so afraid of her answer. "Do you not know me?"

She answered the very way that he prayed she would not. A whimper escaped her lips, "No."

Water filled his eyes as he watched her, shaking in fear, tears tracing lines down her delicate features. "Jack," He finally choked out. "I'm Jack. You're Dawn. You're, you're my wife."

And then she slapped him.

"I am not your wife, mister!" The words brought Dawn back to life, Dawn pushed him backwards, "No, no, no!"

Jack fell back on his bottom and then stood up after Dawn, who was now running out the door.

If she were anyone but the woman that he loved, he would have given a smile, maybe a little laugh, at the sudden shock that she went through at the sights of the Torchwood hub. Instead, Jack watched her body stiffen and horror spread across her face. And of course, at the exact moment Torchwood's resident Pterodactyl took a choice dive.

Jack gradually made his way next to her, trying to come up with something to help her. But he couldn't.

Hearing him, Dawn turned on her barefooted heels. Her naked body faced him, but she took no notice. Nor did she notice his naked body starting back at her.

"What is this?" Dawn questioned him, her hands spreading out in emphasis. Her loud voice turned quieter, "What are you trying to pull?"

Jack stood put, not wanting to upset her. "This is Torchwood. You work here, I work here… we live here."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Dawn's voice grew louder again in protest. "I already told you, I'm not married to you. I don't know you!"

This time, Jack's spirit was too tired to argue with her. "I'm going to call Martha and have her come here. Why don't you go back into our room and put some clothes on." Both statements, not questions. He wasn't used to ordering her around, nor was he used to not asking her on her thoughts. She wouldn't have it any other way. Now, he didn't know what to do. He was terrified. And he needed help.

Bringing the attention back to her nudity, Dawn brought her arms up to cover herself. Not trusting him, but overly embarrassed by her naked body, Dawn took Jack's offer to grab herself some clothes and rushed past Jack and into the bedroom they just left from.

Watching her bare form disappear through his office and into their bedroom, Jack looked longingly after her. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Dawn was supposed to know him, to love him, to play naked hide and seek with him, and beat the aliens that popped into Cardiff, and convince him to order pineapple anchovies pizza every time even though he hated it, and, and everything!

Jack traced the familiar path back into his office. Taking a seat on his chair, Jack picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number. Only half six, but Jack had no doubt that Martha Jones was already up- possibly already at work.

Three rings rang through his ears before he heard the London voice pick up, "Jack?"

Jack took a breath in and propped his forehead up with his palm on the desk. "Martha, I need your help."

Jack heard a sigh on the other end. "I'm in the middle of something of my own right now. I really can't. I could send some UNIT…."

So he played the trump card. "It's Dawn, Martha. Something is wrong with her." In those words, he pleaded with her, begged her to change her mind.

A heavy pause hung in the air. "What's wrong with her?"

Jack shook his tired head forgetting that she couldn't see him. "I don't know. She just… she doesn't know me. She doesn't believe we're married. She didn't know where we were or what Torchwood was."

"Did she hit her head recently? Or encounter electrical currents? Or come across a new type of alien or alien technology? Or… face anything out of the ordinary?" Martha faltered at the end, trying to come up with any type of plausible reason.

"No, nothing," Jack quietly denied. "Will you come?"

He knew she would. But when her yes came through the phone, Jack let out a breath he had been holding since first telling him no. "I'll be there sometime this afternoon."

Jack knew he couldn't further press her to come any sooner. "Thank you."

A dial tone hit his ears. Hanging up the phone, Jack let his eyes fall onto a photo propped up in a frame next to the receiver. Their wedding photo. "Goddammit, why Dawn?"

--

**Notes:** So I was very much debating leaving you at "and then she slapped him," but I figured I might as well give you the entire scene. So question is, would you rather have shorter chapters and quicker updates or longer chapters and less quick updates?

Also wanted to ask if anyone is a beta: I am looking for one for my fanfic story "As Legend Tells It" and possibly this one. I've been looking through the beta profiles, but wanted to ask people who actually have read these stories first! Let me know!

**Review and Make Me Happy**


	3. Chapter 2

**Through Death Will I Protect**

**Rating:** PG 13 - T

**Pairings:** Jack/Dawn

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood or Buffy characters, canon story lines, etc; they belong to their respectable creators.

**Summary:** "The Key needs to be protected. She needs to be safe."

--

Two hours later, Jack couldn't stand waiting any longer for Dawn to come out. He let her have space, let her have time, and yet she hadn't come out of their room.

He tried busying himself: grabbing his jacket as the only form of clothing not in the room Dawn now occupied, filling out a short stack of paperwork, bringing some things down to the achieves and taking a few things back out, and researching as many things possible that would make Dawn forget him. But his eyes couldn't stop wandering to the door or drifting to the collage of photos pinned to wall.

Jack pushed the collection of notes he had taken back and stood up. Jack was never one to be patient if he had the choice. The door right beside him was temptation enough to take the few strides to it. Jack's hand twisted the knob and gently pushed the door open.

Stepping in, Jack allowed his eyes to scan the room. A frown fell on his face as he didn't catch sight of Dawn at first glance. The frown turned to a look of sad desperation as he caught sight of the young woman: leaning against the bed, opposite the dresser, knees pressed to her chest, and eyes hollowly staring into nothing.

"Dawn?" It was a whisper. She didn't respond. "Dawn?" Louder this time. Still, no response. "Dawn!" Jack called out loudly in one last attempt before lifting the now clothed Dawn up into his arms and drawing her into him. Still, Dawn remained frozen, unresponsive, catatonic.

--

_Two hours earlier, Dawn closed the door behind her, escaping from the strange man and even stranger room outside. Dawn's first priority was to get to the dresser sitting in the corner of the room she woke up in. Clothes. Dawn needed clothes. She didn't want to think about why she needed this, but she did. And she found them._

_The top three drawers held pieces of feminine clothing, clothing that just happened to fit her perfectly. Dawn grabbed a tank top, a pair of shorts, some knickers, and a bra, as she found little else in the dresser. Her blue eyes turned to a closet in the other corner, but before making her way to that and seeing about more proper clothing, Dawn turned back toward the dresser. _

_An array of pictures was slipped into the sides of the mirror standing atop the dresser. Emotions flashed over Dawn's face as she brought a finger up to touch the first image her eyes landed on. It was a close up, just two faces, hers and his, the stranger's. It looked so real. She looked so real smiling next to him._

_And then there were more. More of just the two of them: a wedding photo, a vacation, shooting (were those guns in her hands?), and doing other things that Dawn felt like she should remember. But she didn't. Because it couldn't really be real. Even though the group shots of her and the consistently repetitive others looked so real, with them all happy, laughing, and goofing off. But they couldn't be._

_Dawn's eyes narrowed as she realized something she hadn't yet. The photos of her were… not right. Dawn leaned in to look closer at the first picture again. She looked older: her eyes deeper, her face more mature. _

_And then her eyes looked straight into the mirror. And they weren't the same eyes she held yesterday. Her face was not smudged with blood and dirt as they had been. And despite being slashed across her stomach, she felt nothing when her hand ran over the place the recent wound would be. _

_What happened? Did they do it again? Did they make her again? But Glory was dead. And Buffy died to close the portal. They couldn't. They wouldn't._

"_No, no, no…" Dawn echoed over and over again as she backed away from the mirror. Her legs hit the bed and Dawn fell to the ground. Her posture became like earlier as she continued to shake her head in denial. Until she stopped. _

_This couldn't be happening. _

--

Jack Harkness carried the still woman out of the room and down into Torchwood's autopsy bay. Gently, he sat her down on the metal table.

"Dawn?" Again, Jack whispered hoping for some response. But Dawn made no sign of hearing him. Jack brought a hand to her face and brushed away the long strands of brown hair from her face. "Oh, Dawnie."

Moments later, Jack heard the hub's door roll away. "Jack?" Ianto's voice echoed down into the bay.

Jack looked down at Dawn before leaning in and kissing the top of her head before stepping away from her and going up the stairs to greet one of the few remaining Torchwood staff. Seeing him, Jack gave a small smile. "Ianto," Jack greeted warmly.

Ianto looked up at him and gave a small nod in return. His smile faltered, however, as his eyes grew large and face grew pink.

Jack cocked an eyebrow at the younger man.

"Sir, you may want to cover yourself more appropriately," Ianto suggested, face still pink from seeing his boss in a most revealing way.

Jack looked down and grinned at the unbuttoned jacket revealing his near naked body. Jack's eyes twinkled as he looked back at Ianto. "You know you wish you could do more than just stare."

"Of course, sir, but I'm sure Dawn would prefer to keep you to herself. She's always been a jealous one," Ianto bantered back, his face returning to its normal coloring.

Jack's smile dropped, Ianto's words bringing back reality. Jack turned on his bare heals and headed up the steps toward the bedroom, not replying back to Ianto.

Right as he reached the office door, Ianto called after him, "Tea sir?"

"Strongest you've got."


	4. Chapter 3

**Through Death Will I Protect**

**Rating:** PG 13 - T

**Pairings:** Jack/Dawn

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood or Buffy characters, canon story lines, etc; they belong to their respectable creators.

**Summary:** "The Key needs to be protected. She needs to be safe."

--

Ianto Jones made his way to the kitchenette to pour water into the tea pot. Automatically after, Ianto started up the coffee maker, knowing that his second in command much preferred this energy drink.

A flight of stair below him, Dawn raised her head to check her surroundings. Alone. Slowly and quietly, Dawn slid off the table. A confused expression crossed her face as she took in the obvious medical bay.

What kind of place would have a Pterodactyl flying about and a medical ward in it? The answer came to her immediately: military. Sense came flooding into her mind. They must have kidnapped her. They must have found out that she was a key and kidnapped her to use her. But, Dawn frowned, that didn't explain being older and waking up naked bed with a stranger.

Whatever was the case, Dawn was determined to get out of this place. Readjusting her tank top, which had rolled up slightly while Jack was carrying her down here, Dawn made her way up the stairs. Scanning the floor she had seen earlier from above, Dawn started on her way to the hatch on the other side of the room.

What Dawn didn't notice, was a man just stepping into the clearing with two mugs in his hands.

"Dawn!" Ianto called out as he spotted the young woman.

Dawn stopped in her tracks. She turned.

Not noticing her acting off, Ianto smiled and nodded to one of the mugs. "Coffee?"

"Coffee?" Dawn muttered under her breath, unsure why she was fazed by this word, but this man. Dawn's face crunched up. Her brain was buzzing with thoughts, thoughts she wasn't sure were hers, thoughts that spoke a name in her head. Her blue eyes looked up with him, deep and perplexed. A quiet voice escaped her barely parted lips, "Ianto?"

Ianto's smile fell to a look of concern as he heard Dawn's troubled voice. "Are you alright, Dawn?" He stepped forward and placed the two cups on the desk that at one time belonged to Tosh.

"You're Ianto," The whisper just barely met his ears before a loud gasp sounded from Dawn.

As if in pain, Dawn brought a hand up to her head, the other soon followed. More thoughts, memories, flashed into her mind. But yet, like a puzzle piece, they laid scattered about.

"Jack!" Ianto yelled as to alert his boss as he rushed forward to Dawn.

It took only a few moments until Jack darted through his office door and ran down the steps to get to the two.

"Dawn?" Jack took her face in his hands.

She looked at him, desperate, pleading. "Jack." And she knew him. Her blue eyes looked at him as they always had. "Jack, it hurts."

And then she passed out.


	5. Chapter 4

**Through Death Will I Protect**

**Rating:** PG 13 - T

**Pairings:** Jack/Dawn

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood or Buffy characters, canon story lines, etc; they belong to their respectable creators.

**Summary:** "The Key needs to be protected. She needs to be safe."

--

Martha Jones arrived shortly after Ianto forced Jack to eat some lunch, noticing that neither of the Harkness couple had had breakfast. Jack debated about telling him that he survived on much longer without food, over two thousand years. But the waiting had gotten to him and any distraction was welcome.

Dawn still lay unconscious, now resting in the bed she had awakened in. After she had passed out, Jack almost brought her down to the medical bay to be ready when Martha would come, but he couldn't help himself to bring her somewhere more comfortable than a slab of metal. Both Ianto and he pulled chairs up beside her bed and began the process of waiting. Half-way through, hearing the growling of his own stomach, Ianto had decided it was time for lunch and ventured out to pick up a few toasties from the ice cream shop propped up over the bay.

Their lunch brought them into the hub's kitchen area. Which was where Martha found them.

"Jack?" The familiar welcoming call echoed through the hub as the door rolled away and the dark-toned woman walked through, the tail of her lab coat flowing in the air after her.

Neither men answered her, but Martha caught a sight of them through the glass walls of the kitchen. Dropping her bag at the bottom of the stairs first, Martha then walked up the stairs and into the heavy silence. Quietly, Martha pressed, "Jack?"

Jack turned immediately upon hearing her. A relief washed over him, but he only thing showing such was the small smile he offered her. Not in the state to flirt, Jack merely stood up and held out his hand to hers. "Martha, thank you for coming."

Martha looked down at his hand. A smile broke across her face. "Come 'ere, Captain Jack Harkness," Martha said as she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

Jack's small smiled grew ever so slightly and he wrapped his arms around her to return the hug.

At this moment, Ianto chose to stand up as well. He nodded at Martha, who had turned her head to him as he stood. "It's good to see you again, Doctor Jones."

Martha released Jack, only to take the few steps to embrace Ianto. "You too, Mr. Jones," Martha returned with a grin on her face.

Having been released, Jack turned to the two. His face became, yet again, solemn.

The hug between Ianto and Martha quickly broke and the two turned to Jack upon freeing themselves.

Martha was first to speak. "Where's Dawn?"

A sigh escaped his lips and he wished that this was not the reason for Martha's visit. "In our room," he answered. "She fell unconscious an hour and a half ago. She hasn't woken up."

"Can you bring her down to the medical bay?" Martha asked, her smile gone and her professional manner overruling.

"Yeah," Jack simply stated before disappearing without pause.

--

Martha and Ianto met Jack and Dawn in the autopsy bay. Jack laid Dawn down, carefully placing her on the table.

Martha, already having slipped her latex medicinal gloves on, quickly got to work checking over the young woman's body. From her position leaning over Dawn, stethoscope placed over her heart, Martha asked, "What caused her to go unconscious?"

Ianto immediately answered, just as Jack had opened his mouth to begin to answer, "Her and I were on the dock, she grabbed her head and looked to be in pain so I called Jack."

"I came and she told me 'it hurts' and then she passed out," Jack cut in to finish.

Worry stretched across both of the men's faces. Martha glimpsed quickly up to them and tried to force a small smile, but her dark eyes showed otherwise. She let the stethoscope fall back to her chest as she further examined Dawn.

A few minutes later, Martha stood up. She shook her head and gave a little shrug. "I don't see anything wrong with her," Martha said, but held her hand up to stop Jack, so she could continue. "We need to get a scan of her head. If she was grabbing it, something could be in there."

Ianto chose to ask the question in both his and Jack's minds, "Something?"

Martha looked down at Dawn. Removing her gloves and tossing them into the garbage bin, she turned back to them. "Something could be in there, an alien, some alien technology, a tumor, or we could find something damaged, or we could find nothing. But we need to get that scan to see," Martha finalized, being very careful with her words but knowing she needed to say them.

Jack nodded, his face too composed for the situation. "Ianto," Jack addressed, his voice soft. "Get the scanner."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Through Death Will I Protect**

**Rating:** PG 13 - T

**Pairings:** Jack/Dawn

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood or Buffy characters, canon story lines, etc; they belong to their respectable creators.

**Summary:** "The Key needs to be protected. She needs to be safe."

--

Dawn's eyes slowly opened. She half expected to wake in her own bed back in Sunnydale, California. By now, however, she knew she wouldn't. She awoke in a little bedroom underneath Cardiff, Wales, Great Britain.

Dawn pushed the plain black duvet off her and swung her legs off the bed. Barefooted, Dawn passed the cold floor to the closet. It was natural, as if she did this everyday in this room. And somewhere in Dawn told her she had.

Two lives conflicted in Dawn's mind; two entirely separate lives crushing into one. She didn't know where one started and where the other ended. She simply knew that she lived her now. She lived with this man named Jack and worked in this little hub with a medical bay and a pet Pterodactyl.

Dawn didn't know if she had Amnesia or if the PTB messed with her again. Either way, Dawn felt lost and alone but yet as if she had always belonged here.

Dawn threw on a pair of jeans and a nice, revealing purple top. The fourteen-year-old inside her smirked, Buffy would not approve. Still barefooted, Dawn's eyes fell happily on a large collection of shoes neatly laid out against the back of the closet. She plopped down on the ground to carefully check out each left and right shoe. She couldn't help but marvel at how good of taste this grown-up Dawn had.

After picking a pair of purple heels, Dawn stood back up, took a deep breath, and opened the only door leading out of the bedroom.

--

Jack sat at his desk looking over the paperwork that he had so easily pushed aside earlier. But he needed a distraction and they were giving him just that. However, as his pen traveled across the papers, he couldn't hide from the reality.

Martha had left the night before. She told him nothing was wrong. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Dawn.

But somehow something was.

Jack turned the paper over and continued writing. Taking a sip of cold tea, he documented the latest alien technology found.

--

She had learned to be sneaky. Of course, Buffy or Spike or anyone would catch her, but she prided over her ability to be quiet and observant. Right now, that was what she was doing. Leaning against the doorpost, Dawn watched the brown haired, beautiful man stressing over a stack of papers.

He didn't notice her until she made her way to the chair directly opposite his desk. Jack looked up. Blue eyes met blue.

He didn't say anything. He waited because he didn't know what to say to her. Was she her? Did she remember him? Or was this going to be a repeat of the day before?

So Dawn spoke first. "Hello Jack," Dawn's voice seemed alien to herself. Mature way beyond her cognitive level. But even that, Dawn noticed, seemed older, wiser. And suddenly her theory of amnesia made much more sense.

Not waiting for Jack to reply, Dawn said, "Tell me about me, about us."

Jack looked at her. Her eyes betrayed her lack of recognition. But still in them, Jack saw his wife, his Dawn. And Jack nodded because he could never deny her.

"You're amazing. You're beautiful. I love everything about you… except the anchovies that you insist to be on your pizza." He smirked and Dawn couldn't help but blush. "And I'm pretty sure that you love me too, or at least that's what you lead me to believe when you're…" Jack trailed off and it was his turn to blush. Dawn didn't catch on to what Jack was leading to, but let her eyes drop at the way Jack looked at her.

He continued, "We found you. You were only a kid and you were lost and hurt and dressed in that ceremonial dress, we assumed you came from the rift."

Dawn couldn't help but wonder aloud, "Rift?"

Jack knew now, for certain, that Dawn didn't remember. Which scared him all over again. He loved her. He didn't want to scare her away with all that Torchwood dealt with or all that he was.

So he ignored her, just for now. "You didn't remember anything. You didn't know who you were, where you came from, anything. You just knew your name, Dawn.

We took you back here, stitched you up, and tried to figure out anything about you that we could. We found nothing. So we kept you."

"Like a little lost puppy dog," Dawn muttered under her breath. Unbeknownst to her, Jack had heard her say this plenty of times.

"A much more beautiful and more entertaining puppy dog. You joined us here. You became a part of our team. We found that you had a knack for translating materials. You're brilliant, but deadly. Everyone knows not to get on your bad side. Which is especially deadly for me, no one else has to live with you 24/7!"

He continued to talk. And Dawn continued to listen. But as she listened, she couldn't make up what happened.

She interrupted him. "So no Willow, Xander, or Giles or anyone?"

Jack looked at her blankly having never heard these names before. "No."

Dawn shook in her seat and whispered. "I'm all alone here, I'm alone in another country, all old and married!"

Jack shook his head. "You're not alone Dawn. I'm here. Ianto's here, Gwen, and Martha even came last night. We're all here for you. We all love you."

And Dawn knew this was true. She knew because she remembered seeing Ianto yesterday and hearing his name in her head. She remembered seeing Jack and knowing him and loving him.

And quietly, Dawn's thoughts and words tried to puzzle together the little snippets of a brightening dream. "We were married at a small church… except… it wasn't a church. It was really just an alter… right?"

Jack nodded. A smile played on his face in memory. "We couldn't get it legally documented because…" Jack's voice trailed off. He remembered that Dawn didn't know what he was. She didn't know he was an immortal being. And he was afraid to tell her.

"It was a small wedding because the people who were with me when we found you were dead."

And Dawn nodded.. "I think remember."

"You remember them?"

Dawn shook her head. "I remember the death. The darkness." And she did. And as she spoke she remembered is. Jack was surrounded by the darkness just as Buffy had been.

Jack stood from his chair. He walked around the desk and fell to his knees in front of Dawn. He took her hands in his and gently stroked her skin with his thumb. "Dawn, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this. I love you and I just want to protect you."

That word echoed through her mind. Protect, protect, protect….

_They had to be certain the Slayer would protect it with her life. So they sent the key to her in the form of a sister._

_You must protect the Key._

_Then the last thing she'll see is me protecting her._

_I'm counting on you ... to protect her._

Protect.

--

**Notes: **My apologies for note adding for a long time. I forgot to say that I work at a summer camp all summer- which means I have no access to internet for much of the summer. I also just started university, which means I am in an entirely new place, and packed with schoolwork. So my apologies.


End file.
